The members of the Beitar Illit Planning & Building Committee met with Beitar’s city engineer to discuss applications submitted by residents this month and were astounded by an unusual compromise between sparring neighbors, Chareidim10 reported.
A Beitar resident had submitted an application to build an addition to his apartment but one of his neighbors had submitted her opposition to the addition, claiming that it would block sunlight to several rooms in her apartment.
The neighbor, who apparently really needed the extra space an addition would provide, offered his neighbor financial compensation for the blocked sunlight.
Following a tense conversation, the woman said: “I’m prepared to give in and remove my opposition on one condition – that you begin learning Daf Yomi regularly.”
After the initial shock, the neighbor answered the request by saying that he already learns Daf Yomi but he is willing to dedicate the zechus of his limud to his neighbor.
The two parties left the committee room to arrange the details of the agreement and when they returned, the neighbor removed her opposition.
The committee members were astounded at the woman’s request.
City engineer Avishai Meron said: “I’ve been on the committee for 14 years and I’ve never encountered such an unusual concession and in exchange for something spiritual – I was very moved.”
The woman told the website “Beitar Online,” where the story was first published, that one day she looked at the area in her home which would receive less sunlight due to the addition and thought to herself: ‘Money comes and money goes – I want something eternal. Every day for the next seven and a half years I’ll look at [that area of my home] and I’ll know that I’m receiving something in exchange.”
“I believe that this is the only case in the history of the Planning & Building Committee that was solved in a spiritual way,” one of the committee members told Beitar Online. “In most of the cases, a compromise is reached through financial compensation but this was completely different.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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This is why living in EY is so great, because there is a possibility of this. With all the issues and the challenges of our golus that are very much present, there are still Jews who care so much about spiritual accomplishment over material gain.. and that is ultimately contagious to others.. and creates an atmosphere conducive to spiritual growth, etc. etc.. There are more of these kinds of people in EY. I wish there were more people in America who could take their focus off parnassa for a minute (me, for example) but with all the essential bills to pay, how is it possible?? Unless you are on Medicaid/public assistance, and you actually work to pay your bills and medical insurance (!!!), it seems that there is never enough $$. And what about dental work?